Korean Job Discussion Forums

[mortilap1]

Hi all, curious to hear people's responses. Financial freedom? Freedom to travel anywhere? Freedom to do and say what you want?

[World Traveler]

Freedom to smoke marijuana legally. In the U.S. medical marijuana is available in 20 states (and it is not too hard to get a prescription for it in some cases). In two states, you can just walk into a store and buy it without a prescription. For this reason, I consider the United States to be free (or at least a heck of a lot more free than before, and a heck of a lot more free than most of the world).

(I'm on my way to the U.S. soon. I'm excited!)

[The Cosmic Hum]

[Steelrails]

300 years of the struggle for liberty has come down to being able to roll up a doobie. Jack Herer is now on the level of MLK, Gandhi, Mandela, Thoreau, Anthony, and Jefferson.

Don't get me wrong, I think the War on Drugs is idiocy, but Jim Crow or Apartheid it is not.

[World Traveler]

[happiness]

Freedom means being able to move about mostly unrestricted and own basically I want to.
Within the set laws of a country, do what I want to.

Why is freedom suddenly about pot? Isnt it a bigger thing than that? I think most people just smoke anyway.

[World Traveler]

[Steelrails]

I think the freedom of elected legislatures to reflect the will of the people and declare certain products illegal, strictly regulated, loosely regulated, or unregulated is a far more critical freedom than being able to rip bong hits.

[young_clinton]

[joelove]

Oh man, since you asked, freedom to me would mean being free from all the travail and trouble of the self. But you asked, so there it is. I don't mean this in a deep or philosophical way. Is it possible? Who knows? I have no idea if it is possible to be free from all the entanglements of envy, fear, desire, the whole weight of consciousness with all its structure, whatever that is, the urge to become somebody, to be a particular thing, and all the less obvious conditioning that we have. Isn't that the real question?

Also, a lot of money would be nice.

[mortilap1]

Interesting responses

Thanks. For me, I equate freedom to a few different things:

1. Freedom from the mind (ex: freedom from conditioned/socialized thoughts/behaviors/attitudes, freedom from selfish ego pursuits, and freedom from other things such as envy, jealousy, comparing oneself to others, etc. Similar to what another post said).

2. Financial freedom- meaning freedom from debt. I'm currently in debt about 15k, although I'll be able to pay it off in about a year. I've sworn to myself to never be in debt EVER again. As the saying goes: the borrower is slave to the lender.

3. Freedom to do whatever I want- whether it be smoking pot as some have mentioned or having the freedom to not be constantly told what to do by authority.

[yodanole]

I would like to see marijuana legalized for recreational purposes in the United States. It would not have occurred to me to mention it with regard to what freedom means to me. Freedom starts with the ability to go where you like and live your preferred lifestyle, be it as a latter day Jeremiah Johnson or whatever. Recreational drug and alcohol use might be a part of that, but not being in a cell or torture chamber have a higher priority. There is also the "choose your battles" thing to consider.

[Steelrails]

I think economic freedom is vital and under-emphasized by people seeking freedom. The fact is that wealth greatly helps to enable you to have the power to secure your freedom. Looking throughout history, it has been clear that most groups experiencing an increase in freedom, had a preceding period of greatly increased wealth. Gaining freedom through lawsuits and legislation is a band-aid fix. In order to sustain that and prosper further, you need the backing of wealth.

Case in point- Korea. Expats rant and rave about the utterly meaningless HIV and drug tests (who cares if you have to do those things? Just do them, they're minimal hassle) but are generally indifferent to restrictions on gaining extra income or starting businesses or securing loans. Heck, I wouldn't be surprised if the Korean government keeps those- Yeah yeah, keep ranting about your HIV and drug tests, whatever you do, don't pay any attention to financial issues.

[Unposter]

I personally think freedom is having the ability and the resources to do as you want that does not interfere with other people's freedom. It is an extreme example but freedom does not include killing other people randomly as it interferes with other people's freedom to life and safety. Freedom is only possible to the extent that we understand and have the ability and resources to overcome those forces (cultural, psychological, political and economic to name a few) that bind us. Most of us have high degrees of political freedom but very little freedom otherwise. Freedom is very important but it is often over-hyped. For example, there is little to no correlation between freedom and happiness. But freedom has played an important role in scientific and material advancement, as well as psychological liberation from guilt, especially associated with sex, family obligations and fear of Hell, in the West.

I think cultural, psychological and biological conditioning are all real to the extent that we are not conscious of it and the extent that we cannot find ways to transcend it. For the most part the thrust of intellectual advancement has been to understand and overcome these forces, though I get a sense we have gone slightly askew on it lately, especially in the field of economics which has come to dominate the West.

[le-paul]

No boundaries (whether physical or otherwise).

No borders.

Time.

Money.

No material possessions.

No ties to other people.

No regrets.

A positive mind.